Raven's Hollow. Jenna Ryan

as it was, and for all the tales that had been spun around it, was simply a place to live. Or a small portion of it was.

      She had an apartment in one of the two habitable wings. Molly occupied the second. It didn’t take a structural engineer to determine that the central core and several of the outbuildings were in desperate need of restoration. Unfortunately, a full fix would take more money than she and her cousin would earn in fifty years.

      When a slash of lightning delineated the manor from tower to imposing peak, she glanced over. “I’m waiting, Lieutenant.”

      “Working on absorbing here, Sadie. I feel like we’ve been swept off to the Black Forest by a freak tornado.”

      “That’s how I felt when I saw the place again two years ago. It was more of a fairy-tale castle when I was young, but then I only came out here twice that I can remember.” She made a circular gesture. “My apartment backs onto the ocean. Molly’s overlooks the woods. It’s an interesting trek from my door to hers. Still no comment?”

      “Still absorbing.”

      “Mmm, well, when you’re done, I’ll tell you that I’m not eager to make the drive back down to town tonight, so I’m going to be generous and let you borrow my Land Rover.”

      Eli grinned. “Some would call that avoidance.”

      “My mistakes often have that result. For the most part, I circle around Ty the way Cocoa circles Molly’s long-haired Chihuahua.”

      “Who’s Cocoa?”

      A dangerous smile appeared. “My cat. She’s black. I’ve heard her referred to as my familiar. Ready?”

      They waited through another flash of lightning, then made a dash for the porch. In the shelter of a wide overhang, Sadie shoved the dripping hair from her face. “I could sit on a rock at the base of Bellam Point and not be this wet. Cocoa’s going to think she scored a giant rat if she sees...me.” When her eyes picked out an odd shadow, she bent forward to point. “Uh, Eli, can you shine your flashlight on that—whatever it is on my doorstep?”

      He followed her gaze, frowned and, handing her the light, moved in for a closer look.

      She clicked the switch. And immediately jerked back in disgust. “Oh, yuck. Dead bird. That’s...” An ominous creak of hinges had her raising the beam slowly to the door. “...definitely not right.”

      Eli rose from his crouch. “Meaning you locked up this morning?”

      “City girl. It’s a habit.” Her eyes traced the outline of the dark wooden frame. She honestly didn’t know which was worse—the open door or the unfortunate creature lying outside it. Fighting a swell of fear that had already slicked her skin with ice, she said evenly, “What kind of sick person would put a dead raven on my welcome mat?”

      “More to the point,” Eli countered, “is that sick person waiting inside?”

      Sadie’s heart threatened to slam right out of her chest. “This is hell-and-gone creepier than my nightmares.”

      Already checking out the darkened entryway, Eli offered an absent “You have nightmares?”

      She prodded his shoulder. “Later. There’s a puddle of blood around the raven’s head.”

      “Better its than yours. Stay behind me.”

      “Then keep moving. Dead animals are gross.”

      “Getting shot’s grosser.”

      “Shot?” Astonishment halted her on the threshold. “Who’d want to shoot me?”

      “You’d know that better than I would.”

      “It was a rhetorical question, Lieutenant. I’m not...”

      A flurry of unexpected motion cut her off as someone leaped from the foyer shadows. Whoever it was knocked her into the doorframe, swung a lamp at Eli’s head, then tossed it and bolted.

      Trapping her arms, Eli stared into Sadie’s slightly starry eyes. “Are you all right? Sadie, did he hurt you?”

      “Yes—no.” She willed the dizziness away. “I’m fine, I’m good. Go.”

      Cold metal brushed her wrist as he pulled a gun from the back of his jeans and vanished into the night.

      Before she could turn, something swished across her calf. Swallowing a scream, she grabbed the discarded lamp and raised it like a bat.

      A tiny meow floated upward from the floor.

      “Cocoa...” Her breath rushed out in relief. “God.”

      She closed her eyes for a long moment, then, rubbing her head with the heel of her hand, retrieved the flashlight she’d dropped and pushed the door closed. When she touched the switch, a powerful beam of light bounced off the hall mirror and straight into her eyes.

      “Oh, that was smart.”

      She needed another moment, she decided, to slow her spinning mind and regroup.

      Three feathers on a door foreshadowed death in Raven’s Cove. That was a matter of legend. She couldn’t recall any mention of dead ravens on doorsteps in Raven’s Hollow.

      There had to be a crazy person on the loose.

      But this didn’t feel crazy, or not entirely. This was twisted and cruel and, when added to the email she’d received earlier, personal. It was...

      The thought dissolved as she spied a slash of red on the wall opposite the mirror. The wall on which she was leaning!

      Pushing off, she whirled in a half circle. And took three unbelieving steps back.

      A single slashed word covered the plaster from end to end. It appeared to have been written by a giant claw. And said simply:

      FOREVER!

      Chapter Six

      “Slow down. Let me get this straight.” Sadie’s former fiancé, Tyler Blume, gave her a light shake and sent Eli, several feet behind her, a fulminating look. “Someone broke into Bellam Manor, placed a dead raven on your doorstep and wrote a message in red on the wall. This person, who was still inside when you arrived, then proceeded to knock you down and fled the scene on foot with Eli in pursuit.”

      Sadie eased free of his increasingly tight grip. “Something like that, yes.”

      Ty’s ice-blue eyes met the shadowed green of his cousin’s. “I gather you lost him.”

      Eli’s expression gave nothing away. “Unfortunately.”

      “So he was faster than you.”

      “Apparently.”

      “And smarter.”

      “If by that you mean he had a head start and a vehicle hidden in the woods, then yes, he was smarter.”

      “Were you able to obtain the license plate number of this hidden vehicle?”

      “No.”

      “So all in all, your presence at the manor wasn’t overly helpful.”

      Sadie drew her iPhone from her shoulder bag. “I didn’t come into town so you and your cousin could have a pissing contest, Ty.”

      “You shouldn’t have come into town at all,” he fired back. “Why didn’t you call me from the manor?”

      She wagged her phone. “I did, three times. There was no signal, and by the time I got one, we were in the Hollow.” She made a frustrated gesture. “I heard the vehicle Eli mentioned roar off.”

      “Direction?”

      “East,” Eli told him. “Toward Raven’s Hollow.”

      A four-year stint in the army had taught Ty how to control